Taylor is a globally recognized food systems innovator whose career has been defined by a steadfast belief that the world’s most powerful food solutions emerge when they are rooted in local culture, community insight, and dignity. For more than a decade, he has dedicated his work to transforming how nutritious, affordable foods are designed, produced, and brought to market in underserved regions, shaping strategies for some of the world’s largest development institutions while simultaneously pioneering ground-up ventures with local entrepreneurs. His leadership lives at the intersection of anthropology, innovation, and social enterprise, advancing a vision of food systems that nourish both people and economies.
As the Founder and Executive Director of Tailored Food, Taylor has built a nonprofit consultancy that has redefined what is possible in localized nutrition innovation. Under his leadership, Tailored Food has partnered with emerging entrepreneurs, national governments, and global organizations to co-create culturally relevant food products that are both affordable and commercially viable. The organization’s impact spans multiple regions and includes the creation of hundreds of jobs and support for the sale of more than 6.9 million nutritious meals. Through Tailored Food, Taylor has demonstrated a replicable model for food system transformation grounded in community engagement, value chain strengthening, and market-informed product development.
Taylor’s expertise is informed not only by strategy but by extensive time spent in communities facing malnutrition. His background in social anthropology has shaped his approach to food systems design, enabling him to conduct deep ethnographic research that uncovers how families eat, shop, and make nutritional decisions. This immersion has allowed him to bridge the gap between global policy and local realities, ensuring that every product and system his teams build is anchored in cultural relevance and actual consumer behavior. His lived experiences in Liberia, Congo, Mozambique, Brazil, Somalia, and other regions have strengthened his conviction that equitable food systems must first be understood through the eyes of the people they serve.
Before founding Tailored Food, Taylor served as the Director of Emerging Markets at JUST (now Eat Just), where he led innovation and commercialization efforts in regions traditionally overlooked by global nutrition companies. His work in West Africa helped establish new production models for cassava-based porridges and other nutrient-rich products, catalyzing partnerships between local processors, farmers, and multilateral organizations. These efforts not only expanded access to affordable foods but also heightened industry attention on the potential of underutilized ingredients and community-based distribution systems in emerging markets.
In his role with the United Nations World Food Programme, Taylor further shaped the global discourse on nutrition in retail. He designed and piloted scalable models for the production of low-cost foods using locally sourced ingredients, working with entrepreneurs across Africa to build ventures capable of meeting both community needs and market demands. His leadership helped WFP integrate consumer-facing nutrition innovation into its traditional frameworks, strengthening opportunities for public–private collaboration. This work deepened Taylor’s reputation as a strategist who can translate complex field realities into actionable policies for global institutions.
Taylor’s ability to guide large-scale initiatives has also made him a trusted advisor to organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, the World Bank, Griffith Foods, Mercy Corps, and Impossible Foods. His consulting work spans school feeding strategy, value chain optimization, nutrition product reformulation, market-entry planning, and sustainable sourcing. Across these engagements, he has acted as a bridge between community-level insight and high-level decision making, ensuring that global nutrition programming incorporates both systemic understanding and local feasibility. His partnerships reflect his unique capability to bring alignment among governments, NGOs, corporates, and entrepreneurs working within complex food ecosystems.
Education has been a foundational pillar of Taylor’s multidisciplinary leadership. He holds a B.A. in International Development Studies and Social Anthropology from Dalhousie University, where he also completed advanced research on enterprise-led development models. His academic work extended to Ethiopia through studies in agricultural economics and post-harvest management, as well as to Babson College through a UN-sponsored program focused on global social entrepreneurship. These experiences helped shape his systems-based perspective, grounding his practical fieldwork with robust theoretical understanding.
Beyond his technical accomplishments, Taylor’s career reflects a deep personal commitment to community empowerment. Long before his global work began, he founded youth-oriented social enterprises in Canada, including CompCamp and Changing the Narrative, which encouraged young people to pursue creativity, leadership, and entrepreneurship. His contributions earned him the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, recognizing his early and ongoing dedication to social impact. This foundation in service and youth engagement continues to inform his leadership style—one defined by empathy, inclusivity, and long-term thinking.
Taylor’s personal journey is also shaped by a spirit of exploration and human connection. When not developing food systems or advising global organizations, he can often be found running through unfamiliar cities or navigating remote multi-day trails. These experiences reflect the same curiosity and resilience that guide his professional work: a willingness to engage deeply with new environments, listen closely to people’s stories, and build solutions that honor the cultures and communities they serve. His life and career are unified by a commitment to understanding the world through movement, conversation, and shared meals.
Today, Taylor stands among a new generation of food systems innovators who blend technical rigor with cultural fluency and entrepreneurial drive. His work has influenced policies, shaped markets, empowered local businesses, and expanded access to nutritious foods for millions of people. As he continues to build partnerships and scale impact across continents, Taylor remains focused on a singular mission: to ensure that every family, regardless of geography or income, has consistent access to food that is not only nourishing but also joyful, affordable, and locally rooted.
Character:
Taylor consistently demonstrates integrity, humility, and a profound respect for the communities he serves. His leadership is grounded in empathy and a belief that meaningful change stems from listening before acting. He approaches every project with a commitment to fairness, collaboration, and long-term social benefit.
Knowledge:
He brings deep expertise in nutrition innovation, value chain design, and emerging market strategy, informed by both academic training and extensive field experience. He continuously expands his knowledge through direct engagement with local entrepreneurs, global institutions, and diverse cultural contexts. His insights reflect a rare blend of anthropological understanding and practical operational skill.
Strategic:
Known for his ability to synthesize complex systems into clear, actionable strategies that align public and private interests. He designs pathways that are both mission-driven and commercially sound, ensuring sustainability and scalability across markets. His strategic thinking consistently transforms challenges into opportunities for structural improvement.
Communication:
Whether in community kitchens or executive boardrooms, Taylor communicates with clarity, authenticity, and purpose. He excels at translating technical concepts into compelling narratives that resonate with stakeholders across sectors and cultures. His communication style fosters trust, alignment, and momentum in even the most complex environments.
